The linchpin of the ecosystem is an AI-powered platform that integrates data and performance analytics into surgical environments. These data streams enhance and augment clinical workflows by providing real-time insights designed to support the surgical teams and context.
With the reduction of stressful, monotonous tasks, operating-room efficiency and performance will hopefully see a boost as predictability improves around staffing and equipment tracking.
The brand-new center combines real surgical environments with AI-driven data and objective feedback so that surgeons can continuously refine their training.
“It shifts education from subjective observation to measurable outcomes, accelerating mastery and ultimately improving patient care,” says Jill Goodwin, CEO of Axis Research and Technologies, and co-founder and COO of medical tech company OMNIMED.
DISCOVER: How is AI supporting hospitals’ operating rooms?
Building an Objective Performance Baseline for Surgery
Instead of relying on subjective scoring, the OMNIMED SmartOR platform will help build objective performance baselines for training surgeons, says OMNIMED CTO Robert Brown. The platform uses synchronized data from 3D cameras, microphones, and location and environmental sensors to capture workflow timing, team movement, equipment use and room context. It all coalesces into structured metadata that offers a clearer picture for a surgery.
“These AI-based performance baselines are established and continuously refined in the performance center, aligned with institutional standards and expert benchmarks,” Brown says.
Instead of isolated assessments, the platform creates a continuous learning loop so that any surgical activity can be measured and linked to outcomes. An integrated AI agent allows teams to explore this information conversationally afterward using natural language queries.
An Axis Research and Technologies showroom that displays the tools used in surgical education. Photo Courtesy of Axis Research and Technologies
“Users can compare approaches, validate assumptions, test theories and identify best practices using simple speech rather than reviewing another static report,” Brown adds.
That performance data is used strictly for learning and improvement, and hospitals can define how insights are applied. Validation comes from linking execution baselines to real-world outcomes, such as complications, length of stay, procedure duration and operational efficiency.
“Teams can compare results before and after implementation and track progress across simulation, training and live operating rooms, using industry-desired baselines,” Brown says.
85%
The percentage of surgeons who believe that AI could enhance diagnostic precision in areas with limited specialist availability
Source: medtronic.com, “U.S. State of Surgery Report: Key findings and takeaways,” Oct. 10, 2024
Improving the Operating Room with Better Training
Once the center is fully operational, clinical teams will see clear benefits in improved performance, says Dr. Graeme Woodworth, Howard M. Eisenberg, MD Distinguished Professor and chair of neurosurgery at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
“These include factors such as turnover time and instrument counts,” Woodworth says. “The modern operating environment is complex, including equipment, tasks and workflows.”
Eventually, the real-time data for all operating room team members will become essential to improve safety, order and utility, he says: “We know job satisfaction and performance are improved when expectations are clear and monotonous tasks are reduced or eliminated.”
From Woodworth’s perspective, this state-of-the-art surgical environment can only improve a critical discipline. “It is designed to enhance human performance in the OR by establishing clear, measurable performance standards, improving training and preparedness for clinical teams, and reducing manual, repetitive tasks and operational uncertainty,” he says.
